Attachment of sliding clasp fastener to knitted wear



United States Patent- [72] inventor Friedrich Glindmeyer [56} References Cited Stolberg, Germany UNITED STATES PATENTS [21] P 693638 1,876,338 9/1932 Norton 24/205.1 [22] F1led Dec.26, 1967 2 255 713 9,1941 R a 0bb1ns 24/205 [451 Patented 2 259 495 10/1941 s 24/205 [73] Assignee WilliamPrym-WerkeKG 251624l 7/1950 fi i 2,159 Stolberg Rhineland, Germany era [32] Priority Dec. 23, 1966 I Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin [33] Germany Assistant Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin [31] W 43,050 Attorney-Michael S. Striker [54] ATTACHMENT OF SLIDING CLASP FASTENER ABSTRACT: A method of attaching a slide fastener to a knitted fabric in which a slot of a length substantially equal to that of the slide fastener to be attached is cut transversely to a finished edge of the knitted fabric into the latter, in which the transverse edges forming the slot are then aligned and the loops of the knitted fabric adjacent these edges located on needles, whereafter one edge portion of a closed slide fastener is superimposed on the needles locating the loops of one transverse edge and linked thereto by sewing. The thus linked together edge portions are then removed from the needles and turned to superimpose the other edge portion of the fastener on the needles locating the other transverse edge of the fabric, whereafter the other edge portions are also sewn together.

Patented Nov. 17, 1970 INVENTOR Fmfomcn 6mm new! Alla/""7 ATTACHMENT OF SLIDING CLASP FASTENER TO KNITTED WEAR The invention concerns a method of attaching a slide fastener to a knitted article. It is known to sew slide fasteners into knitted articles with single or double needle machines. This causes not inconsiderable difficulties as the sewing technique with single needle machines is relatively expensive and in the case of double needle machines material is required which has not yet been cut up. In order to achieve the parallelism between the vertical rows, loops of the knitted article and the warp direction of the slide fastener, a method has already been proposed in which the knitted article and the slide fastener are connected by needles lying one upon the other in the line of the loops or thread, and are sewn together in runresistant manner.

In order to improve and to speed up such production particularly of cut knitted articles, with slide fasteners, operation according to the invention is such that the knitted article is provided with a slot adapted to receive the slide fastener and being of a length corresponding thereto, then the edges of the slot are spread out into a straight line and the loops adjacent to the edges are pushed on adjacent needles, thereupon the slide fastener is pushed over the same needles, first with one of its longitudinal sides, then by turning through 90 in the region of its connected end and finally, again by turning through 90, with the other of its longitudinal sides, and is sewn or linked to the knitted article in conformity with the row of needles proceeding from the free end of the first longitudinal side to the free end of the second longitudinal side. The pushing of the loops of the knitted article onto the needles is to advantage effected from the bottom of the slot toward both sides.

To carry out the method one can with advantage use a linking machine with rotatable needle ring and adjustable stoplike needle markings which automatically limit the separate sewing sections. After that the stitching machine operator no longer needs to concentrate on the sewing or linking process proper, but can carry out further aligning operation by means of the needles of the needle ring.

The invention is illustrated in an embodiment in the drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a front, rear and cross section view of part of a woven or knitted article with slide fastener connected thereto. The enlarged section of FIG. 3 is taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.

The knitted article is provided, proceeding from the upper nonrun edge 11 in the direction of its vertical rows of loops 12, with a slot 13 to receive a slide fastener 14. The rows of links 15 of the slide fastener 14, mounted on the facing edges of two carrier bands 16 and '17 serving as attachment strips, are joined together at the inner end of the fastener by an end stop 18 and can be brought into and out of engagement in known manner by means ofa slider 19 with a handle 20. In the example illustrated the fastener is a slide fastener in which the rows of links are formed by a weft thread of their carrier bands in the weaving thereof. The weft thread forms loops which are exposed with respect to the carrier band and which are guided with their rearward limbs over the broad sides of a bead of the carrier band and are there woven and anchored to weft threads of the band. Directly behind the rows of links the carrier bands 16, 17 are provided with a loosened woven region 21 extending longitudinally and parallel; this can be effected without any reduction in strength by arranging in this region, in comparison with the adjacent parts of the band, either a lower number of warp threads or, with the same number of warp threads, warp threads of less thickness but greater strength.

The slide fastener can with advantage be sewn in on a circular linking machine with rotatable needle ring and needle marking means, the stoplike markings of which are adjustably arranged on a rotatable ring associated with the needle ring. Operation is as follows:

First of all, the knitted article is pushed, in the region of the bottom of the slot, from the top side on to needles the number of which approximately corresponds to the length of the bottom stop 18 and engages the vertical rows of loops [2, and then on the right and left thereof each of the longitudinal edges of the spread slot 13 is pushed with a longitudinal row of loops on to the needle bed ring, whereby the three sections of the slot are marked. Thereupon the slide fastener is pushed on to the same needles in the line ofthe thread with the loose region of the carrier bands lying on the knitted article, and with the rows of links turned outwardly and the needle ring being rotated in an anticlockwise direction. The sewing or linking operation is then begun, beginning at the extreme right-hand needle marking with the corresponding free end of the associated longitudinal side of the slide fastener, then by turning in the plane of the carrier band through with the end stop region of the slide fastener and then by turning further through 90 with the other longitudinal side between the associated needle stop markings. The operation of linking of a front slide fastener can accordingly be effected at the same time as the operation of aligning of a further slide fastener and knitted fabric on the needles is carried out, so that a continuous process of working slide fasteners into the articles of clothing consisting of a piece of knitted fabric is possible, without the machine operator having to concentrate on the linking process proper. When the linking operation is finished, the slide fastener and the knitted article are again removed from the needles, which can also be effected automatically by running the linked parts on to a suitable guide means.

As already mentioned the embodiment illustrated is only given by way of example of the invention which is not restricted thereto. On the contrary modifications and other embodiments are also possible. This particularly applies to the type and arrangement of the attachment seam. I claim:

1. A method of attaching a slide fastener to a knitted fabric comprising the steps of cutting from a finished edge of the fabric a slot transverse to the finished edge and having a length substantially equal to the length of the slide fastener to be attached; spreading the fabric so as to align the two transverse edges forming the slot substantially in longitudinal direction; pushing the loops of the knitted fabric adjacent to the transverse edges thereof on adjacent needles; pushing one edge portion of a closed slide fastener over the needles locating the loops of one transverse edge of the fabric; linking the thus superimposed edge portions to each other; removing the thus linked together edge portions from the needles and then turning the thus linked edge portions in such a manner that the other edge portion of the slide fastener is aligned with and pushed on the needles locating the loops of the other transverse edge of the fabric; and linking the thus aligned other edge portions to each other.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the fabric is stretched from the inner end of the slot to opposite sides. 

